


Playin' In The Street, Gonna Be A Big Man Some Day

by senioritastyles



Series: 25 Days of Ficmas [6]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, American Football, Cashton, College Football, Fluff, Football Player Ashton, Kissing, M/M, Minor Injuries, football player calum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 22:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8772502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senioritastyles/pseuds/senioritastyles
Summary: "Alright, Ohio calls the toss since they're the home team." The ref says, holding a coin in his hand and looking at Ashton. "Call it." He requests, flipping the coin into the air."Heads." Ashton says, eyes mischievous when they catch Calum's through the masks on their helmets.Calum subtly shakes his head with a smirk and the ref bends to pick up the coin off the ground. "Heads it is. Ohio, it's your choice." Ashton smirks and looks knowingly at his boyfriend. "We'll kick off first." Or: Calum and Ashton face off in the national college football championship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> (title is from We Will Rock You by Queen)

Ashton is so nervous he feels like he might throw up, his hands jittery and restless as he secures his shoulder pads on over his long sleeve white Under Armor shirt. He takes a sip of his Gatorade as he stares at the helmet resting on the shelf of his locker area, feeling a sad sense of nostalgia as he reflects on the past four years on this team. He's a senior at Ohio State, the football team's only senior and it's his very last game—the national college football championship. He's proud to have led his team here in his final season for the first time in years, and that's what's got him nervous. It's a ton of pressure, more than any other game he's played before since he started playing when he was seven. But it's not the only thing that has him feeling anxious beyond belief. The team they're playing, the Michigan State Spartans, is the team his high school sweetheart boyfriend is the quarterback for. No one knows Ashton has a boyfriend to begin with, let alone that it's their biggest rival's star player, and Ashton is scared to see Calum out on that field going up against what the sports reporters have deemed some of the biggest and best defensive linemen in the college scene. He's just a wreck all around as he yanks on his red number seven jersey over his pads and listens to his teammates shuffles around and talk idly with each other. 

 

"Irwin!" Comes a loud voice from the small office attached to the room, drawing everyone's attention to Ashton as the boy makes his way toward door.

 

"Yeah Coach?" He asks, poking his head in the door and waiting for his coach to wave him in before entering and sitting down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. 

 

Urban Meyer, Ohio's head coach, sighs before giving Ashton a rueful smile. "Today's the day, kid. This is it, your chance to leave it all on that field one last time." He says, leaning back and turning one of their practice footballs around in his hands. "How do you feel?"

 

Ashton huffs a broken laugh. "Nervous." He admits with a small smile, trying to stop his legs from bouncing.

 

Meyer chuckles but nods. "I can understand that. I am too, it's a lot of pressure, but I need you to focus and get this team pumped up for this game. This is your team, Irwin, has been since the start."

 

Ashton can't fight a smile at the sentiment, standing up and nodding with newfound determination as he follows his coach back out to the main locker room area. "Alright boys, listen up!" He yells, ready to give his final pre-game speech. His teammates quiet down and congregate around him and their coach, all looking expectantly at him. "This is it boys. We worked hard all season for this chance and now we have it. I'm proud of us, I'm proud of this team, and today it's our turn to show the nation what we're really made of." There's a chorus of cheers and short phrases from his team, all of them nodding with determined looks on their faces. "Today it's our turn to be national champions!" The cheers get louder and more rowdy, the echo in the locker room almost deafening. "Now let's get out there and play hard and win this goddamn thing, boys!"

 

The roar is insane as the team gears up, putting their helmets on and getting ready to be let out on the field. Ashton takes his place at the back of the line of men, watching his teammates jump around and shake out their legs, trying to get their energy up and running as the coaches make their way out first. The tunnel to the field is dark as they start jogging as a team toward the opening, the loudness of the crowd filling Ashton's ears more and more the closer he gets. They're in their home stadium and when he finally gets out the tunnel the seats are overflowing with red. The team makes a beeline for the end zone near where their student rally section is and where their coaching staff is waiting, setting up in their lines all across the field. Meyer stands at the front as the team and their student section waits for him to start their traditional pregame ritual, but the coach instead walks over to the center line where Ashton is standing and he slaps his hand over Ashton's right shoulder pad before guiding him to come stand at the front facing the rest of the team. The Ohio fans go insane for Ashton as he walks up and turns around, waiting for the coaches whistle signals that tell them when to start clapping.

 

The sound is incredible, with the synchronized series of slaps followed by loud screams and jumps, the entire crowd into it and feeding energy into the players. After they repeat that sequence twice, every player gets into a playing stance, knees bent and torsos slightly leaned forward with their arms bent at the elbows in front of them. The coach blows the whistle in short sequences, each blow and indication for the players to move their hands a certain way and clap at certain times, the routine second nature to Ashton after four years of doing it. They finish with roaring cheers and they crowd in together for the team call before they hustle back over to their sideline to start hydrating as Ashton makes his way over to referees for the coin toss. His heart nearly stops when Calum strolls up in his green number twenty-five uniform, this being the first time they've seen each other since the end of August. The stand face to face with one of the referees in the middle, looking sternly at both of them but they only have eyes for each other. 

 

"Alright, Ohio calls the toss since they're the home team." The ref says, holding a coin in his hand and looking at Ashton. "Call it." He requests, flipping the coin into the air.

 

"Heads." Ashton says, eyes mischievous when they catch Calum's through the masks on their helmets.

 

Calum subtly shakes his head with a smirk and the ref bends to pick up the coin off the ground. "Heads it is. Ohio, it's your choice." 

 

Ashton smirks and looks knowingly at his boyfriend. "We'll kick off first."

 

Calum looks like he knew that's what Ashton would say, reaching out to shake his hand when the referee confirms the pick. "And we'll defend this side. Good luck, Ohio." Calum says, voice quiet.

 

"Good luck, Michigan." Ashton nods, biting his lip as he reluctantly lets go of Calum's hand and goes back to his team.

 

The rest of the pregame proceedings go quickly, a blur to Ashton's nervous mind, and before he can really process it his team's kicker is headed for the field with their linemen. Ashton watches nervous as the whistle blows and the kick sails high and long, the other team catching it in the end zone and opting for a touchback. They're set up on the twenty-yard line and they get into position, players switching around and ready themselves for the ball to be thrown backwards. Ashton keeps a close eye on Calum, watching his body tense as he calls for the release. The ball snaps back and Calum's expert hands latch on, his skilled eyes searching for an open receiver to fire to. Ashton spots one as soon as Calum does, watching his boyfriend cock back and launch the ball upwards of thirty yards down the field. The receiver catches it and turns to run, only to be slammed backwards ontot he ground by one of Ashton's defensive linemen. Everyone hops up and resets, the same snap backwards and search for a throw opportunity, but this time the ball is fumbled. There's a mad scramble of bodies throwing themselves at the bouncing ball, the noise from the crowd drowning out Ashton's thoughts as he waits anxiously for the pile of men to clear.

 

One of his linemen comes up with the ball in his arms and Ashton is flooded with pride and jittery nerves as he slides his helmet back on and straps it in place, running out to the field to take his place as both teams switch lines. Ashton gathers with his team and nods along at the play they have set up, confidently standing on the left side of the field, ready to take off and run for the pass as soon as the ball snaps back. He can feel Calum's eyes on him from the sidelines, so used to the attention from his boy during games, and it makes him almost want to smile had he not been so focused on the interaction between his quarterback and center. The ball snaps and Ashton rockets off the line, knowing exactly where he's supposed to run and weave in order to get the ball. It comes effortlessly, his speed no match for Michigan's defense as his quarterback fires the ball directly toward him. He makes a leaping catching, faking out the outside linebacker who had been trying to block him and running like hell toward the end zone. The crowd's cheers fade to the background as he focuses in on the sounds of the actual game, the pounding feet behind him and the yells of the defense to stop him and pads slamming pads as his guards protect him. He's running so fast that it hits him like a truck when someone finally catches up, tackling him forcefully to the ground on the twenty-yard line. He hits hard but he holds tight to the ball, maintaining possession as the ground slams against him. He's quick to stand up once the guy rolls off of him, tossing the ball to the referee and setting back up to run again, breathing in deep to try to catch his breath quicker.

 

The ball snaps again and it's gunned toward the space in front of Ashton immediately, forcing him to launch himself forward faster than usual but he still manages to grab it and spin around one of the linebackers standing in his way, his agility kicking in as he closes the distance to the end zone. The players are all closer to him than before as he runs and dodges the attempts to stop, twenty yards feeling like forever to his tense body, but he finally gets his foot across the line to the end zone just as he's tackled again. His body lands with an 'oof' on the grass inside the end zone and the crowd goes insane, Ashton's chest swelling with pride at having scored the first touchdown of the national championship.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------

 

The game is neck and neck by the time the last quarter rolls around. Ashton is tired, sweaty, dirty, and he's practically dead on his feet from running so many long plays today but it's the best idea strategy wise against Michigan's defense. They'd all watched the tapes of Michigan's games a million times before today and they know well enough that their men don’t stand a real chance against sheer speed and agility, and the strategy has been working marvelously thus far. Unfortunately Michigan knows their weaknesses as well, and their strategy has been working too. Ohio is only winning by one field goal, and with just a few minutes left the crowd is going insane and so is Ashton. He's so nervous, downing water like crazy to keep himself up and running for the next possession switch, waiting with baited breath on the sidelines and Calum's center chucks the ball back to him. Calum catches it with ease but Ashton can see it coming before his boyfriend can, the break in Michigan's block obvious from the outside perspective. Ashton's middle linebacker surges in and bursts through towards Calum, causing the quarterback to scramble and try to make a run for it to get a clear throw. As soon as the ball releases from Calum's hands the linebacker takes him down hard at full speed, Ashton jumping to his feet and looking on horrified as Calum lands with his left foot bent at a horrible angle, the pass going crooked and careening out of bounds. 

 

"Oh my god." He mutters, watching as the chaos clears but Calum doesn’t get up. "Oh my god.....oh my god." He repeats, feeling small tears in his eyes as his boyfriend gestures for the Michigan team medics and trainers to come onto the field. 

 

Ashton wants to go out there with him but he knows he's not allowed, he knows he can't step foot on the field and no one can come completely off, so he just watches absolutely terrified as the medics rush on and gather around his boy. They pull Calum's helmet off and Ashton can see the pain in his face and it makes his chest ache, trying to read Calum's lips as he speaks to the medics. It's a fast paced moment as they lift him onto the stretcher and carry him quickly over to the sideline and set him down just behind the bench as Michigan's second string quarterback takes the field. Ashton can't rip his eyes away from what feels like a horror scene, Calum's face contorted in pain as they pull off his left cleat with careful but swift hands. The sock comes next and Ashton can see how swollen and purple it is from here, his heart sinking and his body yearning to be close to Calum right now. It breaks his soul to see his favorite boy so devastatingly hurt when there's nothing he can do about it and with only one minute left in the game. Ashton watches Michigan take formation again on the field even though they're on their fourth down, a brave move but one that could work if they execute it perfectly. Ashton half sees the game and half sees the medics put a splint on Calum's foot and wrap it in layers of gauze and tape and Ashton knows for a fact Calum refused any immediate proper medical attention. Calum's always been dedicated and Ashton knows he wants to stay for the duration of the game and see the final result. 

 

There's a chaos of movement on the field once the ball is in the quarterback's hands, red and green struggling and pushing to get by and running fast down the field for a long ball, and the crowd is losing their minds with energy and noise. The pass is thrown and it feels like everything moves in slow motion as the ball starts to hurl toward the Michigan player closest to the end zone, and just before it gets to his hands one of Ohio's player rushes in and makes an interception. Ashton's heart jumps into his throat and the crowd leaps to their feet as the Ohio player races back down the field towards the other end zone, victory pretty much secured with the change of possession and only thirty seconds left. Mark Dantonio, the Michigan head coach, takes his headset off and starts shaking hands with his coaching staff and patting his players on the back, accepting defeat after fighting a long and hard battle. Ashton is flooded with that feeling of pride and victory in his chest and he wants to cry as his team surrounds him and his ears are filled with nonsensical noises and congratulations. The crowd is entirely red, jumping and screaming and hugging and kissing and when Ashton gets the room to look over towards the Michigan bench he sees a lot of disappointed and disheartened faces and then there's Calum. The boy is looking directly at Ashton with a smile on his face, clapping idly to congratulate his boyfriend in his hard earned victory. Ashton smiles back just before he's whisked away by his team and his coaches, headed towards a man just a few hundred feet away standing next to a table with their championship trophy.

 

"You accept it, Irwin. You've earned it." Coach Meyer decides, the rest of the team offering agreement on that as Ashton walks over to stand next to the man.

 

He picks up a microphone and starts speaking. "Ladies and gentleman, this year's national college football champions, your Ohio State University Buckeyes!" 

 

The crowd is loud and insane as Ashton is passed the large golden cup shaped trophy, and he holds it up high for his team and for himself and for his school. He's given the microphone after he hands over the trophy to his coach and his chest clenches when he's asked to say something. He doesn’t know what to say, and there isn't enough time to say all that he truly wants to, and when he looks over at the most important person in the world to him he decides that he doesn't need to say much. The crowd knows how hard this team has worked and how much they've done to get here and it's all been said before in so many ways and looking at Calum on the sideline watching him proudly accept the trophy, the poor boy's foot wrapped up tight and his leg swung over the bench to prop it up, he's really only got one thing he wants to say to everyone right now.

 

"I want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us on this journey. You guys have been amazing and we love you. But I especially want to thank someone that I've loved for a long time now," He adds, watching Calum's eyes widen and his back straighten, "Calum Hood. He has been tremendous support for me through everything, including tonight, and I love him....so much. This victory isn't just ours tonight. This victory belong to the fans, this team, this school, and Calum." Ashton finishes, handing the mic quickly back over to the man before jogging quickly over to a stunned and misty eyes Calum, accompanied by the cheers of encouragement from his team and the crowd around them. He reaches Calum with a smile and he puts his dirt covered hands on each side of Calum's smiling sweaty face and he tilts his head up. "Love you baby."

 

And just like that, they're kissing. Their lips are pressed together and their tongues and softly and just barely teasing each other, in front of thousands of people. Thousands of people screaming for them as they express their love for each other in an incredibly public and intimate way. They kiss so passionately, letting out the frustration and the stress of all the pressures of this race to victory. And when it ends and Ashton finally lets go of Calum's lips, the crowd is still roaring and Calum is still smiling and it feels like more than just one victory tonight.

 

"I love you too Ash." Calum whispers, his hands cupped around Ashton's hips. 

 

Ashton's grin is wide as he leans down and kisses Calum's forehead sweetly. "Now let's get you to a doctor for this foot of yours, superstar."

 

Calum chuckles but nods, going to call for the medics to help get him out of the stadium when instead Ashton just scoops him up bridal style and carries out a blushing Calum to the victory chants of his Spartans nation.

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO DAY 6 OF FICMAS!!!!!!!!! This one is especially special because it's for my Lynnie again :) she loves Cashton, she loves football, so what better gift than putting the two together in an action-filled, slightly fluffy fic for her? I actually really love this one, and considering I've never written a football AU and I know absolutely nothing about football whatsoever, I think I did pretty well. I also have Lynn to thank for some of the info in here and the help on how to write it because she's my personal football expert, so shout out to her<3 I hope you all enjoy, please leave feedback, and I love you all<33333
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: senioritastyles & babyhemhem  
> twitter: xtraceex  
> instagram: traceethekid  
> snapchat: youngtray


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